ALIEN: Isolation

Is That Damage?

Ripley had been too caught up in the mission documents to realise what was going on.

'Sevastopol, respond!' she could hear Verlaine yelliing frustratedly into the mike. Verlaine moved frustratedly down to Tommy. 'What's going on? Why can't we hail Sevastopol?'

'I dunno, cap,' he replied. 'Hold up, let me check the network frequencies, maybe we're connected to the wrong one.' Tommy pressed some buttons, causing a window to open up on-screen. It said:

Available Networks

Sevastolink: Passcode 23987VFG: Connection Interrupted

Source: Unknown

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There are no other networks in this area. If a network you're after isn't here, please try connecting again.

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PlaNetwork: Version 2.3.9

'This isn't good,' said Verlaine flatly. 'This is bad.' Samuels cut her off for a moment.

'Perhaps we can turn on the monitors and get a look at the station? maybe we can see if anything's wrong from the outside. Verlaine shook her head, thinking it wouldn't help, but she did anyway.

'Well,' she sighed. 'Guess it can't help to take a look.' Verlaine walked back up to the platform and flicked a switch, so that now all the monitors on the platform were the same camera angle, pointed at Savastopol. 

Sevastopol was a giant of a ship, which looked absolutely breathtaking in front of the backdrop of a giant yellow-brown gas planet. And it was very unusual looking as well. The main body of the ship, which was made of about twenty odd floors, was shaped more or less like a pentagon, with it's top-most end pushed inwards so it left a large triangular gap in the front. On the ship also, were three huge towers, all of which were to do with communication with other ships. Clearly there was something wrong with them.

Ripley noticed that Samuels was squinting his eyes a little. He'd noticed something.

'Verlaine,' he said. 'Can you zoom in on the mid-section please? a little to the right, as well.'

The camera angle changed, and as soon as it did, everybody in the room's eyes went wide.

'Is that,' Samuel paused, looking harder forward, 'damage?'

He had very rightfully said this. Because where the mid section of the front of the ship was SUPPOSED to be, there was absolutely nothing. The ship's front had literally been ripped off. Debris, and - Ripley swallowed hard - bodies - were floating around in the blackness.

Nobody spoke for a good thirty seconds. 'This is very bad,' said Ripley, finally.

'We still have to dock,' said Verlaine. 'We don't have enough fuel to take us back.'

And so, within the next ten minutes, the ship was orbiting Sevastopol, directly in front of the damaged hull of the station.

'Shit!' exclaimed verlaine.

'What is it?' replied Nina, nervously. 'We're not in danger are we?'

'No, miss Taylor,' Verlaine said, 'But it looks as though the docking section of Secastopol's been destroyed as well. The only way you guys are getting out there is via spacewalk.'

'Shit!' exclaimed Taylor.

The group subsequently made their way to the airlock, along with Verlaine. Ripley, Taylor, and Samuels all put on three of the four bulky yellow space suits in the airlock, before grabbing hold of a large pole, that looked more or less like a bettering ram, which was connected to three chords, which were also connected to the three companions as well.

These chords were keeping the group connected to the Torrens and the pipe, so if something happened, they could quickly get back inside.

'Good luck,' said Verlaine, before closing the rear airlock door, (the one connected to the ship's interior) and opening the outer airlock door (the one leading to space).

Ripley took the lead, with Samuels in the middle, and Taylor bringing up the rear. The group made their way through the debris, avoiding large hunks of ship interior.

'Oh my god Ripley,' said Taylor, staring at the carnage.

'It's okay, you're gonna be fine tay-' At that moment, ripley was interrupted by a humungous 'BOOM' that came from one of the pieces of debris.

The explosion was absolutely enormous, and sent debris rocking in all directions. One large hunk flew into the chord connecting the group to the ship, ripping Taylor and Nina's chords, and tearing through Ripley's, sending her flying into the ship, and smashing her into the wall.

'TAYLOR! NINA! DO YOU READ ME?' she screamed into her mike. 'VERLAINE! COME IN!' Ripley got nothing but static.

'Fuck!' she said, grasping for breath.

Ripley crawled, upright, towards an emergency airlock she spied. She desperately pulled down on the lever that opened it, and, mercifully, the doors opened, letting her inside.

Ripley floated inside the airlock, shutting the door with an identical lever from the inside, before the small metal room was flooded with air, and she slammed, hard, onto the floor. She convulsed violently, nearly vomiting, due to the impact she'd sustained when she'd hit the station wall.

Ripley was in Sevastopol.